Welcome to the Playing Pretend release event, organized by Grapevine Book Tours! Read an excerpt from this NA Contemporary Romance, and enter to win a gift card or eBook copy. Don’t forget to visit the event page for a list of participating blogs with more excerpts and an author interview!
Playing Pretend
by Juliana Haygert
Publication: March 3rd, 2014
New Adult Contemporary Romance
As the Governor’s daughter, Charlotte McClain is an expert in playing pretend. High society, the men her mother shoves in her direction and a Pre-Law major are all a part of her perfect pretense. But when she pretends to be a nobody during Spring Break, she meets someone who rocks her world.Mason Rowell knows heartbreak and Spring Break don’t mesh well, so he allows the mysterious Charlotte to seduce him. What should have been a fling, results in something deeper. After Spring Break has long since passed, he moves to Washington to pursue his graduate degree, but what he never expected to find living among the rich and pompous, was the girl who gave him the strength to change and the desire to start anew.
When the guy Charlotte can’t forget goes from a sensual memory to temptation in the flesh, her facade is put to the test. If she surrenders to his charms, she risks ruining her mother’s perfect career and master plan. Playing pretend is what Charlotte does best, but how long can she pretend she doesn’t love the man who made her proud of her true self?
**A light, sexy NA Contemporary Romance (17+)**
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Grab your copy today! From now until March 9th, Playing Pretend is only 99 cents!
A sneak peek inside Playing Pretend
I held her arm and pulled her back into the dark hallway. “Wait.”
“Why are you doing this?”
I didn’t let go of her arm. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just … I guess I miss you.”
A small smile appeared on her lips. “Do you miss all the girls you hook up with during spring breaks? Oh, there’s summer too, right? Busy town during summers, right?”
Annoyance was making its way into me. “For your information, I am not that kind of guy.” Wasn’t I? That was what I said I would do. “I had the same girlfriend for three years before you.”
Her smile faded. “Please, Mason …”
“What?” I slid my hands up her arms, pulling her closer. “Tell me about it.” But she didn’t. She averted her eyes. “Why are you acting so stiff and reserved?”
She jerked away from me. “That’s who I am. I call it refined and educated. Or even elegant.”
She was certainly refined, educated, and elegant, but that wasn’t it. “No, no. You’re not like that. Come on. I saw you.”
“Who you saw is someone I cannot be.”
So, that was it. She couldn’t be like that here.
“But that’s who you are, isn’t it?” I walked up to her, towering over her, pushing her against the wall. “That’s who you have to be.”
Her eyes grew wide and she looked side to side, trying to find a way out of my trap.
“What are you going to do? Tell the world what a slut I am?” Her beautiful eyes filled with tears. “What do you want? Will you ask for money to stay quiet?”
I gave one step in her direction, bumping my legs onto hers—only a few inches separated my body from hers now—and reached around her, brushing my fingertips along the bare skin of her back.
“I want you,” I whispered in her ear. Her breath hitched, and I took pleasure in feeling her back arching with my touch, her body shivering with my breath.
Her hands grasped my arms. “Please,” she gasped.
I loved when she begged. “I want the real you. The one that spent six wonderful days with me.” I slid my tongue along her jaw and her nails dug into the skin of my arms. Damn, her scent was like drugs. I was addicted. “The one I know is in there. Let her out. For me.”
“I can’t,” she whispered. Then she pushed me back and, in tears, she dashed away.
While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.
• One (1) $10 Amazon or B&N gift card {INT}
• Two (2) eBook copies of Playing Pretend by Juliana Haygert {INT}
Event organized by
Sydney Aaliyah Michelle 